Pierre Poivre and the Networking Naturalists

Although climate change is seen as a very 21st-century concern, back in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century naturalists around the world in places as far apart as Mauritius in the Indian ocean and St Vincent in the Caribbean were becoming aware of what they referred to as desiccation, the drying of the land and absence of rainfall due to the cutting down of large swathes of forest trees.

This book traces the connections between those naturalists, scientists and men of letters to reveal the surprising truths that they discovered and which must inspire us to follow the trail they blazed.

Palestine: From Balfour Declaration to Oslo Accords

The last hundred years have been the witness of the battles between the Jews and Palestinians and this has posed a big challenge before the world to establish peace on the region. This seed of conflict emerged around the beginning of 20th century. This book discusses various facts in regard to the origin of the conflict from the beginning of 20th century till its last decade. During this time, the world community saw many facets of the Palestinian-Jewish conflict. One major outcome was the emergence of Israel as a nation. Eventually, Palestinians experienced that they lost their original identity and hence they started their struggle to establish themselves as an independent nation. The book is attempted objectively and the facts are presented in a chronological manner which reveals the ancient historical events, further explaining the criticality of the topic. This book shall help history scholars and general readers of history who are interested in the facts of Middle Eastern history.

One October Day in Peking: The Japanese Surrender

In WW2 the United States and its Allies supported China against Japan. Now, 76 years later, the United States and its Allies, including Japan, are supporting Taiwan against China’s threat to invade it. Could this be the spark that ignites WW3?

Nicholas and Alexandra Majesties and Massacre

This is a book about love, life and death set in Russia, during Czar Nicholas the II’s reign. It commences at the end of the 19th century with his father’s burial and his subsequent inheritance of the Crown – with absolute power. His reign is underpinned by the strong love between him and his wife Alexandra and overshadowed by the presence of Rasputin.

But his unwise decisions lead to chaos, including the Khadynka Tragedy, Bloody Sunday, 1905 revolution and the Czar’s abdication. His family is imprisoned, first in Tobolsk and then in Ekaterinburg, and the story concludes with the communists obtaining power and executing the entire royal family.

Become entangled in the tales of love, hate, conflict, sex, treachery, and murder between the characters. Dive into a horrifying historical moment from one hundred years ago and experience for yourself life at a crucial turning point in Russia’s bloody history.

Munich Why?

This is a fascinating, cold-case review of the 1938 Munich agreement. There were five major players: Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Czechoslovakia. For the Czechs it was a disaster. In 1939, the Germans marched into Prague. The Czechs were to lose their independence for some 50 years. In Britain, Chamberlain was the self-appointed spokesman for the Czechs. He was simply found wanting because he never appeared to have the slightest understanding of Hitler’s dishonesty. The French were led by corrupt and incompetent politicians who had treaty obligations to the Czechs which they were determined, at all costs, to avoid being required to honour. The Germans were the villains of the act. Hitler was determined to smash the Czechs and “to remove the tribes of Bohemia and Moravia into reservations in Siberia and Wolhynia (a marshy part of Poland).” 

“Ethnic cleansing” had not then entered the English language. Russian foreign policy was famously described by Churchill as “a riddle, wrapped up in a mystery, inside an enigma.”

London's Firefighters

London's Firefighters is a wonderfully readable, lavishly illustrated
anthology of articles, fiction and verse about the London Fire Brigade,
most of it gathered from the Brigade's house magazines London Fireman
(1966-82) and London Firefighter (1982-2005).
The book's editor David C. Pike, himself a retired firefighter, has cleverly
selected material that delivers both a comprehensive history of the
London Fire Brigade and a fascinating portrait of individual firemen
and women, at work and (occasionally) at play. The book includes
vivid, occasionally harrowing articles on important events involving the
Brigade - the Sidney Street Siege of 1911, the London Blitz and the 1981
Brixton riots, to name just a few - as well as covering key figures within
the Brigade like James Braidwood and Massey Shaw. The more personal
sections provide a revealing insight into the bravery, commitment and
camaraderie of ordinary working firefighters and their families.
The numerous, often highly dramatic illustrations, many from the London
Fire Brigade's own collection, offer a lively commentary on the text.
All the profits from this book will go to the Fire Service charity,
Firemen Remembered.
David Pike was a London firefighter for more than 30 years, retiring at
senior rank in 1996. His first book, Beyond the Flames, was published by
Austin Macauley in 2013.
‘A fascinating peek into the world of the London Fire Brigade. A finalist
and highly recommended.'
The Wishing Shelf Book Awards 2014/15, on Beyond the Flames

Living Through The Great War at Home: How the People of Bromley Faced the Challenges of War

Living Through the Great War at Home tells the story of the people of Bromley from the month before the outbreak of war to the Armistice in 1918 and the celebration of peace in July 1919. Although it shows how men were mobilised, volunteered, conscripted and left to ‘follow the colours’, it is a book about the people of Bromley and how their lives were challenged and changed during the war, how they supported their own boys in the army, how they dealt with the problems of war, the restrictions of DORA (Defence of the Realm Act) and the threat and reality of the Zeppelin raids. We learn of the generosity of the people in supporting their ‘boys’, caring for the Belgian refugees and the wounded—the VAD hospitals and how women rose to the challenge, both in terms of filling the gaps in the workforce left by the men and struggling to put food on the table as rising prices and shortages finally led to rationing. The work is based on real information from the local newspaper, together with research to put them into context and understand the stories better.

Just Before the Dawn

JUST BEFORE THE DAWN is a ‘snap-shot’ of four former African colonies as they approached independence at the end of the 1950s. It is also a travel book based on the author’s experience and adventures whilst living and working at that time in Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Ruanda-Urundi (as they were then called) and Kenya. The book touches on those countries’ differing histories, both ancient and recent. It also offers the reminiscences of an elderly man pondering his first experiences of the worlds of work, and of love. The book’s leitmotif is dawn, along with its challenges: the coming dawn of change in those four countries, and in the author’s personal life. Additionally, he describes the magnificent dawn he experienced while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, as seen on this cover.Some of the comments on the author’s book on Russia:‘A calm and objective witness for the truth’ – John Le Carré‘It affords twin pleasures of content and style’ – a reader in France‘An excellent book’ – Lord Wright of Richmond, former Head of the Diplomatic Service‘A fascinating account of conflicts and tensions’ – The Church Times‘Extraordinarily observant’ – Andrei Voznesensky, poet

It's Not Necessarily Myth

Many people in the last century, and even today, have argued about the possibility of aliens coming to Earth with science and technology more advanced than our own. Usually, they base their proof on things like unusual phenomena and strange archaeological findings.
However, in this book, Dr Perry argues that the proof of aliens is actually hidden in world mythology. He believes that certain clues about the super modern world are hidden in myths and we have to decode them. For example, he takes the myths of Prometheus, Iris, Sisyphus, Apollo and others and interprets them as machines, devices and different kinds of weapons.
The purpose of this book is to decipher these clues and thus prove that intelligent extra-terrestrial beings visited the Earth thousands of years ago. The additional purpose of publishing this book is to cause individuals, more intelligent and professional, to join this field of deciphering mythology. If these experts decode new information of which we are not yet aware, it will be a decisive proof of alien existence in our distant past.

Into the labyrinth: in search of Daidalos

Daidalos was a polymath who foreshadowed Leonardo da Vinci by 3,000 years and was famed as an artist, inventor, scientist and engineer. Despite his many talents and his contributions to the advancement of humanity, his interactions with those he knew resulted in mayhem, and this is what makes his life so fascinating. First of all, he was responsible for the death of three close relatives – his son, his sister and his nephew. Secondly, his actions resulted in the death of King Minos who was a son of Zeus. Thirdly, he was involved in both the creation and destruction of the monstrous bull-human hybrid known as the minotaur. Finally, the lives of two of the most important women of Crete, Queen Pasiphae (the daughter of the sun god, Helios) and her daughter, Ariadne, were devastated by his interventions.  It could be argued that his actions contributed to the downfall of the Minoan civilization and its subjugation by the Mycenaeans. This book is the story of his fascinating life, the times in which he lived and the legacy he has left us.

Insurrection

‘Damn bad place Sheffield,’ said King George Ill, reflecting on the town’s reputation as a hotbed of radicalism with revolutionary tendencies, a reputation it maintained for much of the 19th century, augmented by the numerous times that the Riot Act was read to the Sheffield mob. Yet few Sheffield riots were in the name of revolution. They were more to do with social inequalities, injustice and deprivation, only the Chartists’ rising and connections with the Pentrich rising came close to revolution. The price of provisions, the lack of democracy, oppression and perceived assaults on social norms by new religious movements were the dominant causal factors of social disorder in the Sheffield of the 18th and 19th centuries, the protagonists being coal owners, market traders, magistrates, politicians, the police, the militia, resurrectionists, Wesleyans, Mormons and Salvationists. A personal dispute and an attempted robbery also brought out sections of the Sheffield townsfolk in protest and riot. Some of the events in this book will be familiar to the student of Sheffield’s history; some of the events will amaze them; all of the events detailed in Insurrection will fascinate the general reader.

Imperial India: A Pictorial History

Magnificent palaces, forts and fortresses, victory towers and memorials, among others, are the living symbols of imperial lavishness in India. The book describes and illustrates royal edifices from Agra, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, Hyderabad, Lahore, Madras, Poona, Rawalpindi, Quetta and Simla. The physical history of the above architecture is juxtaposed with social history of the time, for example, segregation of the British rulers from their subjects, and habits and customs of the colonial rulers and Indian and Burmese princes. The cultural history of the times is captured by the establishment of Shakespearean theatre, musical comedies and drama in the Indian sub-continent. Transport history is addressed through a discussion and illustration of Indian railways, among the largest transport networks in the world. My private and rare collection of vintage postcards published in Germany and the UK between 1905 and 1910 is the main source of illustrations in the book.